So much Success: Ride 11

 Today was a good day! 

It was warm and sunny and dry. Lyric and I had plans to go ride with Kelli at Ashland. We were supposed to meet at 11, so... I was aiming to try to start loading by 10. I snagged Lyric and we did a few minutes of pillar walking and then she walked right in the trailer. And right back off. But then the second attempt, she stayed on long enough for me to put the butt bar up (although I did get my hand pooped on as I was doing it) and then I got the ramp up. She was a bit unhappy and rowdy back there but settled down when we were moving. We got to Ashland long well before 11. Luckily there was another horse there because Lyric was on edge. She kept screaming and if that other horse disappeared from sight, she got a little panicky. So we walked around a little bit and I was able to pull her blanket off. Kelli showed up just before the other horse headed off for their ride so phew! She settled a bit more when she realized Marvin was hanging out close to her. 

 

So we groomed and got tacked up. I had to go pee and Kelli said she watched me the whole time. Awwww. I took her into the arena and did our pillar walks. She was on high alert and screaming. She settled but we didn't get a consistent pillar one. Moments... and lots of licks and chews, but also lots of head up and bracing. But fair enough. She hasn't been to Ashland other than the one time she ponied with Dan. And today there was Lauren Eckhardt and her group in the lower dressage arena. There were people in the cross country field that rode up on the tree line. There was lots of rigs coming and going. It was a busy busy day! So we walked for about 6 minutes and then I got on. She was good and let me park her near the cone and climb up via the cone. Then it was warm so after we walked a lap or two, she let me take my vest off and lay it on the judges booth. We had to move her feet for a few, so we didn't do our halt test immediately. Which was fine. She was going but not jiggy or anything. We tested the breaks a few times and then started trotting. She was good! She didn't soften as much as she does at home (again, fair enough) and steering was still questionable at times. But she was good. We had moments and she stayed in the arena and didn't dump me or bolt or rear or do anything bad really. We even cantered! She got the right lead on the first try. Then got the right lead again when we were trying for left but then got the left lead on the second attempt. She was a little squirty in it too, but... not too terrible. I did have to pull harder on the bit than I would have liked, but oh well. She stopped. Then she was a little rattled, so we took a few more minutes of trotting to get her to settle and breathe and slow a hair. And she did. yay! 

  

Then Kelli decided she was brave enough to try to hack out with us. We started off heading to the XC field so she could look at everyone eventing and playing. Luckily they had just gotten out there too so they weren't galloping around yet. Lyric was brave and led and although she stopped and stared a bit, she also went when I asked. We headed into the woods and turned left to go downhill to the beaver dam. She hesitated a tiny second at the bridge and then walked over it fine. And then walked over the second bridge fine. And for the most part she was quiet and on the buckle with a long and low posture and a relaxed back. She was marching though! We went through the cowpens and then behind halfshire. Then we got to the baby creek. She got nervous and tried to go the other way. I stopped her and got her to step forward and look a bit. Kelli had gotten off so she walked Marvin up to it and got him over it. So then Lyric was like "oh fine... I can do that" and crossed it. She didn't really jump it but she was a bit quick. So we went back over... and then back over.. and back over! The 4th time she even put her foot down in the water. Good girl!

 

Then we headed to the open field and went over the dam to the creek. She was brave over the dam but didn't want to go to the water. Jan and Cheyenne had showed up too and she was distracted by them. But even after they left and Marvin went to drink, Lyric didn't want to go near it. We headed out to the XC field to head home. Unfortunately they were still schooling. I told Kelli I was tempted to try to take her to the water complex to drink but not if they were schooling. So yeah.. She did pretty well but we had to stop and stare for a bit when they were at the banks. Then as we kept walking, they jumped another jump along the edge and Lyric got a little squirrely. She was shaking and her eyeballs were big. But she held it together. I mostly sat quiet with my hands pretty close to being on the buckle. She never felt like she was going to bolt or explode.. just like she might bounce around in place a bit. We finally chilled enough to start walking again and then as we were leaving them and they were behind us, she started to jig. I decided to just take her into the woods and we would head around the little lake to maybe let her settle after that. Nope. She was anxious and jigged the whole way around the lake mostly. Of course it didn't help at all that as we rounded the first corner, the horses in the pasture started galloping towards us. Then as we rounded the second corner the heron (a big huge one!) flew out through the lane. Then Jeff and Beau showed up behind us. And it was a lot. Lyric froze and was afraid to go near the pterodactyl place. Until Marvin tried to pass, then she was like "excuse me, ladies first!". 

   

We got back to the trailer parking and I asked her to go back to the arena to get my vest. Kelli took Marvin back to the trailers and Lyric finally imploded. I got her to the bench but my vest had fallen and so I was going to hop off and get it. Except she started wiggling, jigging, threatening to rear, shaking her head, spinning, etc..  She was about to lose it. I called for Kelli, hoping she would bring Marvin. Unfortunately, she just walked up without Marvin, which didn't really help us. I did manage to get her to stop and stand for enough time that I was able to get off. Jeeesh. 

 

Then she settled once she saw Marvin again. I got her untacked and boy was she sweaty! I think most of it was from the last 5 minutes of the ride. Poor girl. I let her relax for a bit. I was so proud of her! She did the majority of that trail ride on the buckle. And while she has a power walk, she was flat footed. She didn't explode or bolt. I stayed on. She crossed bridges, led, and did the creek. Such a good baby thoroughbred!

 

So then we put Marvin on his trailer so Kelli could help me. I managed to get her right on twice but she kept coming off. And my ramp was pretty steep because of the way I had parked and the terrain, so... as she scrambled and slid down my ramp the second time I handed her to Kelli and pulled my rig up to flatter ground. Kelli offered to try since she had her so I let her. She did all the things I was doing and had about the same results. She did get a nice "think forward and relax and drop your head" button when she used the whip (very softly) on her girth area from underneath. And then we talked about how maybe if I went in and bribed her from the front and Kelli drove from the back.. maybe? The worry is that she will go on easily, but she rushes and panics and scrambles and almost throws herself in and then she scares herself and backs out. So we tried being a bit kinder to get a more relaxed loading but.. then at some point... she just stopped trying so we had to up it a little. We still tried to keep it more relaxed but...   We did manage to get her halfway on with a relaxed dropped head. So then both Kelli and I had the same thought at the same time... so I dropped the chest bar so she didn't feel so claustrophic and that helped. We managed to get her in and relaxed and not backing off and then Kelli was able to shut the butt bar. I then put the chest bar back up and shut the ramp. And then she started having a fit and was throwing herself into the butt bar. Kelli suggested I close the top window... so I did. She's probably right. Before and as I was getting into the truck to leave, she was flinging and flailing in there and creating quite the ruckus. So I was glad I had shut the top door. Once I got moving she settled a bit. We managed to get home and I dropped the ramp and she stood! Of course once she did start moving she came out hot! But not too bad. I turned her out and she drank and then went to grazing. Phew! A very good day but also a little stressful!

So now to decide whether we try again tomorrow or wait another week.